History fo Civil Defense in the United States 1945- Present :: essays research papers

History of Civil Defense in the United States 1945- Present History of Civil Defense in the United States 1945 - Present Civil Defense History The purpose of this paper is to outline the development of civil defense in the United States from 1945 until the present. Also addressed are selected medical aspects of civil defense and lessons learned from prior civil defense initiatives. Civil defense is defined as â€Å"activities organized by civilians for their own protection in time of war or disaster† (Hyperdictionary, 2004). Civil defense became a major issue during World War I as the conduct of war between nations expanded to include attacks on cities, factories, and civilians that were essential to war in the industrial age. Civil defense became even more important during World War II. The explosion of the Soviet Union’s first atomic bombs signaled the fact that civil defense would remain a permanent fixture of the Cold War (Dobbs, 2001). Between 1945 and 1949, various agencies undertook studies of civil defense (Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, 2004). During the 1950s, American civil defense was characterized by a city-evacuation system (Dobbs, 2001). The American city-evacuation plan called for citizens in highly populated areas to put distance between themselves and the explosive effects and fallout of a nuclear attack. In their original incarnation, Civil Defense programs sought to develop sheltering capabilities to house people in attacked cities. Civil defense planners were also developing mass evacuation plans for supposed targets of the USSR. During the 1953-1958 time period, there continued to be arguments over whether evacuation or sheltering was to be the nation's policy regarding response to a nuclear attack. President John F. Kennedy, sensing that the overwhelming majority of state and local governments were doing little if anything to develop a sheltering capability, decided to make civil defense preparedness once again a central issue. A full-fledged nationwide shelter program, funded by the federal government was de veloped. In the early 1970s, federal level organizations moved toward allowing the dual-use of civil defense funds and equipment to be utilized for natural disaster preparedness. For a brief period of time, the federal government allowed the states to treat natural disaster preparedness as their primary role with respect to the use of federal civil defense funds. This changed again, however, following the ascendancy of Gerald Ford to the Presidency, and once again, states were required to treat planning for a nuclear attack as their primary function.